Agenda

4:00 PM -

6:00 PM

Student Networking Reception

The Student Networking Reception is a unique opportunity to meet and share ideas with fellow CGI U students. Upon entering the room, attendees should locate the CGI U keywords that are most closely aligned with their respective commitments, and introduce themselves to other participants who share their interests and work.

Remarks:

Haben Girma,Staff Attorney,Disability Rights Advocates

Opening Plenary Session

6:30 PM -

8:00 PM

The Courage to Create

Many of the world’s most effective technologies or social movements grew out of organized brainstorms and were launched through a combination of hard work, strong mentors, and the courage to create. These successful innovators—whether working in dorm rooms, labs, studios, or classrooms—were able to start out and scale up despite having limited resources and few precedents for their work. While their impact may be widely recognized today, the hurdles and lessons learned from their earliest stages of design and implementation are as instructive and valuable to others. This session will bring together creative, impactful voices from a wide range of sectors to discuss:

• What first inspired their confidence in the process of innovation and creativity, and what some of their earliest challenges were.
• How to incentivize the invention and innovation process among young people through expanded access to seed funding, mentorship, technical training, and lower-risk student loan repayment plans.
• How students, universities, NGOs, and businesses can support a broader culture of creativity and collaborative design as core components of 21st century citizenship.